Material Culture in America : Understanding Everyday Life

Reaching back 400 years, Material Life in America: An Encyclopedia is the first reference showing what the study of material culture reveals about American society—revelations not accessible through traditional sources and methods. In nearly 200 entries, the encyclopedia traces the history of artifacts, concepts and ideas, industries, peoples and cultures, cultural productions, historical forces, periods and styles, religious and secular rituals and traditions, and much more. Everyone from researchers and curators to students and general readers will find example after example of how the objects and environments created or altered by humans reveal as much about American life as diaries, documents, and texts. The first encyclopedia to look at the study of material culture (objects, images, spaces technology, production, and consumption), and what it reveals about historical and contemporary life in the United States.Reaching back 400 years, Material Life in America: An Encyclopedia is the first reference showing what the study of material culture reveals about American society—revelations not accessible through traditional sources and methods.In nearly 200 entries, the encyclopedia traces the history of artifacts, concepts and ideas, industries, peoples and cultures, cultural productions, historical forces, periods and styles, religious and secular rituals and traditions, and much more. Everyone from researchers and curators to students and general readers will find example after example of how the objects and environments created or altered by humans reveal as much about American life as diaries, documents, and texts. The first encyclopedia to look at the study of material culture (objects, images, spaces technology, production, and consumption), and what it reveals about historical and contemporary life in the United States. Reaching back 400 years, Material Life in An Encyclopedia is the first reference showing what the study of material culture reveals about American societyrevelations not accessible through traditional sources and methods. In nearly 200 entries, the encyclopedia traces the history of artifacts, concepts and ideas, industries, peoples and cultures, cultural productions, historical forces, periods and styles, religious and secular rituals and traditions, and much more. Everyone from researchers and curators to students and general readers will find example after example of how the objects and environments created or altered by humans reveal as much about American life as diaries, documents, and texts. You Can Tell A Lot About People By Looking At Their Stuff - The Things They Make, Process, And Value. That Is The Idea That Drives The Field Of Material Culture, In Which Scholars Explore The Meaning Of Objects Of A Given Society. This Book Is The First Encyclopedia To Look At The Study Of Material Culture And What It Reveals About Life In The United States.--jacket. Helen Sheumaker And Shirley Teresa Wajda, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 485-536) And Index. Presents more than two hundred alphabetic entries that cover the history of American material culture, including such topics as adolescence, mourning, graphic design, Art Deco, and gay consumerism.